Blog post 2 (arts culture)

Identity is unique and it is representative of a certain thing. For a country to create its own identity not only must it be unique and representative, it must also be accepted by the people. Everyone knows how important the arts are a part of the Koreans’ lives and that culture and heritage are also part of their arts and how much effort the government have actually put in to create Korean’s own identity.

The first thing that comes to people’s mind when it comes to Korea is the wonderful food culture that they have (kimchi). Traditional performing arts like their graceful dance and even their wonderful heritage (Confucianism), all these belong to the Korean identity. These are the things that represent the country and play an integral part in the Koreans lives too.

The arts, culture and heritage site is able to create a Korean identity due to the fact that it have been passed down by generations. Korean traditional dance have been passed down and practised by many generations and this have become such an important part of their culture. I believe that this is what Singapore government should also do, which is to promote traditional art form to make it part of our culture(reference to Renaissance City Plan II), to add on to Singapore’s culture assets.

Food culture is one of the things that people remember Korea or recognise it for. It can be seen that kimchi is a food that is widely accepted by the Koreans and is frequently consumed by them. One of the most important criterion that I feel that which makes up a culture is that it is being accepted widely by the community and that this can be seen from the love that the Koreans have towards kimchi and how this kimchi culture have spread across the world. This is similar to how people recognise Singapore by its food culture. For example, laksa, chicken rice and rojak are all Singaporean foods that are globally recognised by most internationals

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(wonderful kimchi)

One of the unique where whereby Korea chose to show their culture is through their heritage site. Korea is known for being respectful and applying Confucianism to their life. For example, the Jongymo shrine, which is the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty paid homage to their forefathers in the time-honoured Confucian tradition- believing about the spirits of the descendant and the need to respect them actually the same as how they respect their elderly.

In order to promote tourism in Korea, the government chose to use different means to portray their culture (identity) in order to attract tourist. One of the ways is through media. Since the world now is going through globalisation, the way got connected with each other through media. Given that Korean drama is extremely popular among people today, the government chose to use that to show people more about the Koreans’ culture. Like how the Korean actually behave when they are with the older generation (respect, due to Confucianism), the food culture that they have. Like the love they have towards kimchi and all those steamboat which they consumed frequently too.

And also given that internet is widely available to everyone, the Korean government actually puts in a lot effort into their website. (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto). Also the fact that Youtube is very popular in the world today, some of the traditional Korean dance clips are actually being uploaded onto the internet, allowing people to view and get to know more about Korea’s arts.


In order to spark the interest of youngsters towards Korea, the government also encourages the promotion of the music industry. In the recent years, the world has seen a rise in the popularity of Korean popular culture, or in short, KPOP. Although KPOP doesn’t directly reflect Korean culture, youngsters will start to become more interested and aware about the Korea culture through KPOP. And through the word of mouth, youngster can actually spread the Korea identity to their family members and friend. Most of the time, people are interested and will be curious about a country’s identity, therefore they would actually want to go to the country to know and experience the country’s culture (identity) therefore, increase the tourism level of the country (:


From this, we can actually see how important a country identity is. Not only is it unique and representative of a country, it allows people to know more about the country and may chose to come to your country to experience it thus increasing your tourism level, boosting the country’s economy.

Blog post 1 (arts culture)

Korea was simply an awesome place to stay at. It was literally a place full of arts and beautiful places that simply made me unwilling to leave.

One of the places in Korea that I simply adore was Insadong! It was true that the things there are very creative and unusual. I just could not restrain myself from shopping. Yet what made me really like the place is the fact that the atmosphere there is a mix between tradition and modernity. Insadong was a unique place that was truly representative of the cultural history of the nation. Besides shopping, there were national antique shops and interesting art galleries as well as traditional stationery shops. The art work there was simply fabulous. Whether it was still art or portrait, everything could be found there. And it seems as though the entire street was full of galleries (I don’t mind spending my entire day exploring it). I found out that Insadong was able to attract both the tourists and the locals to visit. Therefore, not only do the locals get to know more about their arts and culture but the tourists too

(shops that sell traditional things)

(wonderful place that sells lots of arty things)

(art sculpture found in the shopping place)

(my favourite gallery)

(works from my favourite gallery)

(cute and contemporary works from other galleries there)

The other awesome place that I really enjoyed exploring despite the chilling weather was the walking tour at Bukchon. Similar to the Peranakan houses at Paya Lebar, there was a village where traditional Koreans houses (by the aristocrats in the past) were preserved by the government so that the younger generation would be able to get in touch with their traditional culture since most Koreans are living in modern apartments now. Although the traditional houses were retained, there were modern twists to it. Some of the houses were used as galleries and museums to showcase some of their traditional culture too. We went into one of the houses (gallery) which showcase all the different Korean traditional costumes. I am rather awed by all those beautiful and colourful traditional costumes. At the same time, it allowed me to view at the interior of this traditional house. All these indeed give me a deeper insight about the Korean culture. One thing that I found out when we were conducting our walking tours there is that there wasn’t much (any) tourists around. Instead most of the people were either students or the elderly. This actually shows effort by the government on wanting to educate the locals on the Korean traditional culture
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(preserve traditional houses)

(modern interior of the houses)

(modern interior of the houses)

(the wonderful galleries and museum there- i wan to go to museum of chicken art!!!)

(galleries there that showcase their traditional costumes)

(galleries that showcase traditional costumes)

Although I do enjoy this trip to Korea very much, there were a few places that made me rather disappointed. Being a person slightly inclined towards the performing arts, I was really looking forwards for the public performance at the National Folklore Museum. However, the moment I stepped into the auditorium, the place was so packed with people that I didn’t even manage to get a clear view of the performance. Also the entire performance was conducted in Korean language, resulting in me not being able to understand anything at all. Being stuck in a crowded, noisy and foreign environment simply turned me off. However, majority of the audience there were Koreans (children) and that they seemed to be highly engaged and entertained by the performance. To add on, the entire folklore museum is actually exhibiting the different various aspects of traditional life. It allows me gain a deeper insight into the life of Koreans. From the past trip to the other museum in Korea, I had developed a fondness towards the children’s museum. I simply love how interactive the children’s museum was. However, due to overcrowding in the National Folklore Museum, the children’s museum was closed to public ): and I heard that the museum there was really good therefore I felt very disappointed when I’m able to get to go in. Although it was a disappointing afternoon in the National Folklore museum, I was able to appreciate how the much the government wanted to educate the locals about their own unique culture, like the tailoring of performance for children to let them know more about the traditional performance and having this museum to showcase the different aspects of their traditional life, so as to build on the locals’ sense of identity in the country.

(exhibition)

(exhibition)

(exhibition)

(outdoor exhibition)

(outdoor exhibition)

Even though I didn’t manage to enjoy the time I spent in the National Folklore Museum, but then I really enjoyed the other places that I visited in Korea. This trip not only allows me to understand how much the Koreans embrace the arts and also how much effort the government spent in educating and retaining their culture (: